II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5255 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit 

to Congress an annual report on biomedical research funded by the 

United States and performed in China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget to submit to Congress an annual report on biomedical research funded by the United States and performed in China. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chinese Laboratory 

5 Accountability and Watchful Spending Act of 2024’’ or 

6 the ‘‘CLAWS Act of 2024’’. 


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•S 5255 IS

1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON FEDERALLY-FUNDED BIO2 MEDICAL RESEARCH IN CHINA. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

5 agency’’ means— 

6 (A) an Executive agency, as defined in sec7 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code; and 

8 (B) an independent regulatory agency, as 

9 defined in section 3502 of title 44, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 

12 project’’ means a project— 

13 (A) funded by a covered agency; and 

14 (B) that is awarded directly or indirectly 

15 through a grant, contract, other transaction 

16 agreement, subaward, cooperative agreement, or 

17 any other form of assistance to an entity that— 

18 (i) is located in China; or 

19 (ii) performs the project in whole or 

20 in part in China. 

21 (3) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means bio22 medical research or experimentation conducted for 

23 the identification, control, treatment, and prevention 

24 of human or animal diseases, including the testing 

25 of any drug, biological product, device, vaccine, vac26 cine adjuvant, antiviral, or diagnostic test. 


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•S 5255 IS

1 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

3 of Management and Budget shall issue guidance requiring 

4 covered agencies to annually include in a report described 

5 in paragraph (2) of section 3516(a) of title 31, United 

6 States Code, or a consolidated report described in para7 graph (1) of such section, information relating to each cov8 ered project of the covered agency, which shall include a 

9 detailed description of the covered project, including— 

10 (1) the purpose of the covered project; 

11 (2) whether the covered project involves — 

12 (A) pathogens with pandemic potential; 

13 (B) biological select agents and toxins; 

14 (C) dual use research of concern; 

15 (D) human or animal subjects; and 

16 (E) classified research; 

17 (3) each location where the covered project is 

18 carried out and, if applicable— 

19 (A) whether the location is subject to the 

20 jurisdiction or control of, or operates on behalf 

21 of, China; and 

22 (B) whether the location engages in joint 

23 research with, is supported by, or is affiliated 

24 with the military, security forces, or intelligence 

25 agencies of China; 


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•S 5255 IS

1 (4) if applicable, the rationale for conducting 

2 the covered project in China; 

3 (5) the contract or award number of the cov4 ered project; 

5 (6) each covered agency or subagency funding 

6 the covered project; 

7 (7) each primary contractor, subcontractor, 

8 grant recipient, and subgrant recipient of the cov9 ered project; 

10 (8) the start date of the covered project; 

11 (9) the current expected date for completion of 

12 the covered project; 

13 (10) the cost of the covered project during the 

14 previous fiscal year; 

15 (11) the total cost of the covered project since 

16 inception; 

17 (12) a description of specific steps taken to en18 sure research security of the covered project; and 

19 (13) any noncompliance with respect to the cov20 ered project documented by the covered agency dur21 ing the reporting period. 

Æ 


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